Collapsible carton member



May 11, 1954 T 'VANDER T, JR 2,678,152

COLLAPSIBLE CARTON MEMBER Filed Dec. 8, 1951 INVENTOR.

WW 5w Patented May 11, 1954 c am smnscAnroN MEMBER T homasyanderclmgt,Jr.,. Kalamazoo, Mich., as- 8131191 to, Sutherland Paper Qomp any,Kalamazooms? Application December 8, 1951, SerialNo. 260,636 2." Glaims.(.01. 223.??35) First, to provide a collapsible' carton memberor-element which the walls collapse upon the mainor body panel and maybe quickly erected by an outward pull on opposed coll'apsedwalls.

Second, to provide a-carton member cfth-is character in which the wallsare effectively lockedin"erected-position and one in which there is-nodamaging strainupon the hinges or joints connecting the parts ortheparts themselves when they are in collapsedposition.

hird: is? ro d a's llap i e certon me b ofthistypewhich may be used as atray 'or body member oras a covermember.

Objects relating to details and economies of the invention will appearfrom the description to follow. The inventionis defined and pointed outin the. claims.

Anpreferred embodiment oithe invention is l t a ed t e a c m an in w ng;in which: l i

Fig 1c is a perspective view of a, carton member m dvinemy inven ion w t-tb wa l-e e te position.

Fig. 2 is an tionalwiew.

3 is 11a fragmentary. perspective view; illustrating the parts inpartially erected. position,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the collapsed carton member.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of one corner of the blank in the flat orextended form, one corner portion only being illustrated, as the othercorners are duplicates of the one illustrated.

My invention is well adapted for embodiment in a tray type of carton andhas many uses as such. However it will be understood that the cartonmember illustrated may be used either as a body member or as a covermember. It will also be understood that I use the terms side and endwalls in the specification and claims for convenience in description andthat the shape or dimensions of the carton may be varied according tothe particular use to which it is to be put.

The embodiment of my invention illustrated is formed of an integralblank out and scored to form a main panel I, side walls 22 hingedlyconnected to the main panel at 3, the hinge connections being formed byscoring of the blank. End walls 4-4 hingedly connected to the panel I at5 and corner members 6 hingedly connected to the end edges of the endwalls at I. These corner members are diagonally scored for foldeniargedfragmentary side elevaingatem. the. diagonal scoring forming innerscoringasegments 9i and. outer. corner segments I6 The hinging scores. 8are on an angle substantialiy less than. 45 relative to the hingingconnection l for the. corner members of theend walls.- The .purposeaofthis will be apparent from theiurther description.

The. corner flaps in this. preferred embodiment are. oi'rlessheight thanthewalls and the edges II oi the inner segments 9 are inwardly spacedrelative tothe hinging line 5' to the end walls to.

the panel. I and. are desirablyat anangle-thereto as is shown inthedrawing (seeFigs. 4' and 5) t The inner portionszof the end edges of thesidewalls .arecutaway at. [2 providing clearance for the partswhen infolded position, that is, the

edges. 12 are spaced from the hinges of theend walls/when the carton iscollapsed: The portions at theout'er" sides: of these cut away portionsl 2 constitute tongues [3 which project longitudinally of th'esidemembers. The inner segments f thecorner flaps are lapped upon andfixedly securedltothe-outer sides of the side walls preferably byadhesive: as indicated by M in Ita -will be noted that when the-wallsare collapsed as shown .irrFig. 4 the edges I l of the 111- portions-ofthe end edges l2 of the. side walls are substantially spaced from thehinging score or connections 5 for the end wall panel 'I. This allowsthe end walls to be collapsed flat upon the side walls without pinchingor applying tearing or cramping or stress to the parts. The hingingscores 8 being at an angle relative to the hinging score 1 substantiallyless than 45 results in the end walls being inwardly inclined. when inerected position as is best shown in Fig. 2 so that the tongues l3 onthe side walls project through the slots l5 formed at the juncture ofthe corner flaps with the end walls and provides an effective interlockwhich holds the wall in erected position and without fracturing ortearing stress on any of the parts either when the carton is erected orcollapsed.

I have found that positioning the hinging scores 8 at an angle of 43relative to the hinging scores of the corner flaps to the end wallssecures the desired result for providing an eiiective interlock andpermits the parts to be collapsed without rupturing or breaking stress.I desire to point out however that this angle may be considerably variedwith satisfactory results.

I have illustrated and described my invention in a highly practicalembodiment thereof. I have not attempted to illustrate or describecertain modifications and adaptations which I contemplate as it isbelieved this disclosure will enable those skilled in the art to embodyor adapt my invention as may be desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure byLetters Patent is: 7

1. A collapsible carton formed of an integral blank and comprising amain panel and side and end walls hingedly connected thereto, and cornerI members of less height than the side walls hingedly connected to theend edges of the end walls and diagonally scored providing inner andouter collapsibly foldable segments, the inner segments being lappedupon in side by side parallel relation to the outer sides of the sidewalls and fixedly secured in such side by side parallel relation in andbetween collapsed and erected positions of the carton, the carton in acollapsed position being disposed with the side walls in superimposedrelation to the main panel and the end walls in superimposed relation tothe end portions of the side walls, the diagonal ,hinging scores for thecorner segment being at an angle of approximately 43 degrees relative tothe.

hinging connections of the corner members to the end walls, the endedges of the inner segments of the corner members being spaced inwardlyand inclined relative to the hinging scores for the end walls to thepanel in said collapsed position of the carton, the lower edge portionsof the end edges of the side walls being cut away and the upper end edgeportions of the side walls constituting longitudinally extending tonguesprojecting outwardly beyond the cut away lower edge portions of said endedges, the end walls and corner flaps at the hinged junctures thereofhaving slots opening upwardly through their upper edges at theirjunctures and receiving said tongues when the carton is erected, the endwalls in the erected carton being inclined inwardly, the end edges of'the inner segments and side walls below said tongues being spacedinwardly from.

vertical planes coinciding with the hinged, connections of the end wallsto the panel to permit of said inward inclination of the end walls whenthe carton is erected, said tongues being movable along the inner sidesof the end walls and automatically engaging in said slots as the endwalls are moved from said collapsed position to an erected position,said tongues and end walls being relatively flexible and flexingrelative to each other prior to engagement of the tongues in said slotsto permit of such movement of the tongues along the inner sides of theend walls and said automatic engagement of the tongues in the slots.

2. A collapsible carton formed of an integral blank comprising a mainpanel and side and end walls collapsibly hinged thereto, and cornermembers hingedly connected to the end edges of the end walls anddiagonally scored providing inner and outer collapsibly foldablesegments, the inner segments being lapped upon and in side by sideparallel relation to the outer sides of the side Walls and fixedlysecured in such side by side parallel relation to said side walls in andbetween collapsed and erected positions of the carton, the carton beingcollapsible with the side walls over the main panel and with the endwalls over the end; portions of the side walls, the lower edge portionsof the end edges of the side walls being cut away and the upper end edgeportions of the side walls constituting longitudinally extending tonguesprojecting outwardly beyond the cut away lower edge portions of said endedges, the end walls and corner flaps at the junctures thereof havingslots opening upwardly through their upper edges at their junctures andreceivi side walls to an erected position when the tongues automaticallyengage in said slots, said tongues and end walls being relativelyflexible to flex.

relative to each other during such movement of the tongues and end wallsand for such automatic engagement of the tongues in the slots.

References Cited in the file of this atent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName 'Date 271,881 Marks Feb. 6, 1883 I 940,941 Putnam Nov. 23, 19091,113,922 Wilson Oct. 13, 1914 1,926,366 Bergstein Sept. 12,19332,414,763 Palmer Jan; 21, 194

FOREIGN PATENTS j; Number Country :Date 5 354,437 France May 19, 1905734,713

France Aug. 8, 1932

